Associated PressGregg Popovich sits behind the Red Auerbach Trophy that he won for being voted NBA Coach of the Year for 2011-12.

The five most interesting stories, rumors and notes in the NBA:

1. Pop goes the genius: Gregg Popovich rested his main
three players -- Tony Parker, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili -- for the
Spurs' final two games of the regular season. No big deal as San Antonio
had clinched homecourt advantage throughout the Western Conference playoffs and
was ending the season with back-to-back road games.

In those games, Popovich also rested another key part of the Spurs -- himself, letting assistant Mike Budenholzer run the team while and he and his big three returned home early.

That sort of outside-the-box thinking helped Popovich earn the NBA Coach of Year Award for the second time. In an unusual season with a condensed schedule, it was the perfect fit.

Popovich
is the guy who opted to rest key players when he had a winning
streak at stake, and not just once, either. Twice the Spurs had 11-game
winning streaks going when Popovich decided to rest key players, and
both times the streaks ended (including with a 40-point loss to the Blazers here in Portland).

Throughout
the season, I asked numerous coaches if they were trying anything
different to cope with the condensed 66-game schedule. To a man, they
all said no, they were trying to win each game as it comes, sticking
with the one-game-at-a-time credo that is ingrained in
coaches at all levels.

But not Popovich, who all along kept an
eye on the forest first, then the trees. True, the Spurs have assembled a
strong roster, but keep in mind that -- as the Express-News' Mike
Monroe writes -- the Spurs won 50 games (the equivalent of 62 wins in an
82-game season) while Manu Ginobili missed 32 with injuries.

Also,
what other coach could integrate players such as Boris Diaw and Stephen
Jackson -- castoffs from non-playoff teams, including Diaw from the
Bobcats, for crying out loud -- and work them into key rotation spots?

2. Putting on the wait: The Charlotte Bobcats' search for a coach
... well, let's skip the jokes as they are way too easy. Instead, let's
consider what kind of coach the team with the worst winning percentage
in NBA history wants to succeed the fired Paul Silas.

Bonnell speculates that the
Bobcats could wait until after the May 30 draft lottery, when they
discover if they will get the No. 1 pick with which they would surely
select Kentucky's Anthony Davis. That, Bonnell figures, could help lure
a stronger pool of coaching candidates -- or at least give an
experienced coach like McMillan greater incentive.

APAmare Stoudemire had surgery Tuesday to repair a muscle in his left hand. He is out for the Knicks' Game 3 against Miami on Thursday.

3. When the hand hits the glass, it's Amare: The day after Knicks forward Amare Stoudemire sliced up his hand by breaking a glass fire-extinguisher case after New York's Game 2 loss in Miami, added details emerged that at least give us a broader picture than that of a petulant millionaire throwing a hissy fit.

ESPN reported that the blow that shattered the glass wasn't a premeditated punch, but more of a closed-fist slap. Also, Stoudemire thought that the cover in front of a fire extinguisher was plastic, not glass, ESPN added.

The New York Post reported that Stoudemire's anger wasn't toward teammate Carmelo Anthony taking so many shots (26 to Stoudemire's nine in Game 2), but rather an accumulation of a number of factors, including the death of his brother and his dislike of the Heat's Chris Bosh.

Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski writes that Stoudemire had truly remade himself into a more responsible, up-standing person and player starting with his final season in Phoenix, but might have undone all that goodwill with the shattering of the glass. Indeed, Stoudemire has three years and $64 million left on an uninsured and all-but-impossible-to-trade contract, and his health continues to wane, with his back and knees seemingly breaking down.

That's hardly ideal for a player about to turn 30, playing on a team that has already used its amnesty clause.

Odom agreed to go on permanent inactive status for the Mavericks, who still include him in their game notes, with this entry for the 2012 postseason: "Spent 2 games on the inactive list."

I supposed technically they could slip him into tonight's Game 3 against Oklahoma City as a Willis Reed thing, although it would be a slightly less heroic comeback.

Who knows what Odom's future holds? He has one year and $8.2 million left on his contract, but only $2.4 million is guaranteed, so a buyout seems almost certain. According to celebrity gossip reports, Odom's mother-in-law, Kris Jenner, is pressuring Odom to choose his reality show over his NBA career. Ah, nothing like unconditional motherly love.

5. Opportunity approaching: One city's standoff is another city's opening. With Sacramento and the Kings apparently in a stalemate about a new arena and the franchise's future, Seattle is once again seeing an opportunity.

Commissioner David Stern, Kelley adds, went above-and-beyond to try to make the Sacramento arena deal work, something he did not do for Seattle before Clay Bennett moved -- or hijacked, if you prefer -- the Sonics to Oklahoma City.

You hate the idea that Sacramento, with such a great fanbase, could lose its franchise. But it seems clear that Stern and the NBA need to wrestle that team out of the hands of the Maloof family. That situation is a real lemon, but Seattle could be the lemonade.